The Great Ziegfeld
1936
Release date: 3/22/1936 (L.A. Premiere)
185 minutes
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Screenplay: William Anthony McGuire
Assistant Producer: Sidney Algier (Uncredited)
Producer: Hunt Stromberg
Cinematography: George J. Folsey (Segment "Ziegfeld Roof Numbers" - as George Folsey); Karl Freund (Segment "Ziegfeld Roof Numbers"); Merritt B. Gerstad (Hoctor Ballet); Ray June (Melody Number); Oliver T. Marsh
1.37:1 Aspect Ratio
Nomination Year: 1937 - 9th Academy Awards Ceremony
Won: Best Picture; Best Actress - Luise Rainer; Best Dance Direction - Seymour Felix (For "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody")
Nominations: Best Art Direction - Cedric Gibbons, Eddie Imazu, and Edwin B. Willis; Best Director - Robert Z. Leonard; Best Film Editing - William S. Gray; Best Writing (Original Story) - William Anthony McGuire
Writer's note: In this series I will watch a Best Picture-winning film each week and go a little deeper than my usual reviews. I hope you enjoy my thoughts and perspective. I will, of course, attempt to be sensitive to spoilers for newer films but for these early films I will be writing without regard to spoilers so be forewarned. I suggest you see the films I am discussing before reading.
It is a long-standing tradition for Hollywood and Broadway to tell epic stories about the people who shaped Hollywood and Broadway, then self-congratulate for how powerful and brave the current filmmakers are, for telling the "true story" of those that came before. A few films came to mind as I watched this biopic, one of the first of its kind. They ranged from Funny Girl, the story of stage sensation Fanny Brice, to The Doors, which perhaps should have been more aptly titled as, "The Life and Times of One Jim Morrison," to All That Jazz, the musical depicting the struggle of the little guy to finish the musical.
For its salt, The Great Ziegfeld does not pull its punches in its depiction of Flo. Mr. Ziegfeld loved the ladies, and the ladies loved him. The film does not seek to make this a virtue nor does it demonize; it simply presents his wandering eye as-is and does not care to judge, letting the audience instead make any judgements they may about the man and the life he lived.
My opening remarks may seem cynical but I do love these old-timey, epical type movies that have overtures and intermissions. To be sure, there is much fun to be had while watching this film, even if it does drag a bit in the final act (a similar issue with the aforementioned Fanny Brice biopic).
The Great Ziegfeld, being one of the first crop of Best Picture winners does still contain some firsts, even if it was the ninth overall to carry the mantle. For instance this is the first winner to break the three-hour mark. It's also one of the first to contain both incidental and diegetic music. When Hollywood first began incorporating sound into their movies, it was assumed it would be confusing to the audience if there wasn't a source on-screen like a record player or an orchestra. As a result in many early films throughout the 1930s and into the 40s, music was only used over the opening credits, as part of musical numbers, or diegetic.
The film opens with a sequence recreating the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, which deftly introduces Ziegfeld and sets up his rivalry with Jack Billings, played wondrously by Wizard of Oz's Frank Morgan. Immediately, Powell's performance is charming as Flo, firing of zingers and keeping his talent in line. Keep an eye out for several other Oz alum - such as Ray Bolger as himself, a stagehand-turned-actor who got his start in the famed Follies. A number of actors played themselves in the backstage segments, as they owed their fame to the start they got from Ziegfeld's hit Broadway stage show.
Ziegfeld is a born showman who showers the people he loves with gifts and lavish dinners - even when he can't afford them. There is a lovely montage where it shows how he weaponizes watchdog groups, like the American Humane Society's concerns in order to create controversy for his performances. Because after all, any publicity is good publicity!
It seems a common theme that many of the early Best Picture winners seem to focus on historical events and figures, showing the passage of and changing times during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Whereas Cavalcade mimicked a previous BP winner, The Great Ziegfeld chooses a more unique path. In the middle portion of the film a number of Follies stage performances are re-created in magnificent fashion.
There is a fantastic moment in the mid-point prior to Intermission, which allows the opening scene of the Follies, "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" to play out unfettered. The masterful centerpiece dance number is portrayed in a dazzling one-shot (with a single, very well-hidden cut): A revolving staircase diorama reveal all sorts of cultural and popular representations of adoration over the female form. It is sumptuous, delightful, and one of the finest pieces of cinematography ever committed to film. The movie is well worth watching just for this moment. While the DVD playback on my 4K system was excellent and took the SD material and made it damn-near HD quality, it is nevertheless a shame and a crime of Hollywood that this film is not available on Blu-ray.
Like Ziegfeld's Follies, The Great Ziegfeld is a mish-mosh of moments and vignettes, but that is not a strike against the picture. It doesn't feature the frenetic editing of All That Jazz, but it's very much on a similar level to a film like that. It seeks to present a famed and maligned figure as he was, even if it does at times take artistic license and dramatizes moments with an eye towards entertainment over accuracy. Once the intermission is concluded, we are treated to a series of recreations of the Follies stage show, intercut with dramatic scenes depicting the romances and financial struggles of the man himself. In a move that might be called lazy now but which was innovative at the time, the movie lets the Follies show take precedence and allows several songs in a row to play out, which acts as a passage of time montage.
As much as he loved women - and everyone did love Flo - even his rival Billings, who would eventually become a frienemy - Ziegfeld loved the art of bringing together a stage production even more. He seemed to relish the process of cleverly stroking a costumer's ego to make him forget his demands for payment, or seducing a young starlet onto his stage (and into his arms) without finalizing a contract with solid terms.
The most important thing to Ziegfeld was a beautiful woman, presented on a beautiful stage, with beautiful lighting and accentuated by beautiful scenery. He was a true showman, and the film of his life reflects the importance of the art he brought to life.
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